No. 10 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (25-9, 8-1)
vs. NEW MEXICO HIHGLANDS (12-21, 5-15)
April 8 – 1 P.M. CT
Brandt Field (Las Vegas, New Mexico)
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian University will be trying for a season sweep against New Mexico Highlands as they take on the Cowboys in a midweek afternoon game on Tuesday in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The Chaps and Cowboys have met one prior time this season, playing a midweek game two weeks ago at Hays Field in Lubbock. LCU was the winner in that first contest, scoring the winning run in the 10th inning. Tuesday's game is the last this season against an opponent from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and they will need a win to secure a winning record against that conference for the season. They will have a tough task cut out for them, however, as all 12 of NMHU's wins this season have been at their home field. 
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE
• Lubbock Christian has the fifth best slugging percentage in all of Division II at .535
• LCU is ranked in all three D-II National Polls: Perfect Game - 10, CBN - 20, NCBWA - 22
• Outfielder Keaton Greenwalt's .404 batting average leads the Heartland Conference
• Chaps' 50 home runs are almost twice as many as the next closest Heartland team (TAMIU with 27)
• LCU has gone 52.0 straight innings without an error, dating back to the last game against NMHU on 3/26
• Chap batters are hitting .331 with runners in scoring position
• LCU starting pitchers have an earned run average of 2.71
• Andrew Pratt's 11 home runs lead the Heartland and rank No. 11 nationally
 
MIDWEEK MATCHUP
Lubbock Christian is playing its third of four scheduled midweek games this season on Tuesday against New Mexico Highlands. They have already played one game agasint Highlands on 3/26, defeating the Cowboys 6-5 in 10 innings. The only other midweek game played by LCU so far this season was against West Texas A&M on 3/5, when Buff ace Joe Corbett beat the Chaps 9-1. Keaton Greenwalt leads the team with three hits and three RBI in the two midweek games, while reliever Koi Carrillo has also appeared in both of the matchups, pitching 2.1 innings without allowing a run.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian will once again be playing away from home this weekend, having played 23 games on the road already this season. The Chaps have fared well away from Hays Field, already surpassing their 2018 road win total with a 15-7 record in road games this season. They have won seven out of the last eight road games, dating back to March 9 against St. Edward's. Hill Alexander leads the way with a .375 batting average in road games, while Ryan Johnson has won six road contests with a 1.93 ERA away from home.
 
CLEAN LIVING
Chap fielders have recorded 159 straight outs without making a fielding error, dating back to the last time LCU and NMHU faced off on 3/26 at Hays Field. Eddy Vasquez made the last error, allowing Gaylan Youn to reach base in the top of the fourth inning of that contest, but no other Chap errors were committed in that game, or in any game sense. The streak has raised team fielding percentage for Lubbock Christian to .971, which leads the Heartland Conference.
 
MULTI-HOMER PERFORMANCES
Through the first 34 games of the season, five different Chaparral batters have already delivered with single game, multi-homer performances. First basemen James Hardberger was the first to do it with a pair of four-baggers on 2/3 vs. Missouri Southern St. Two different players had multi-homer games at the same time on 2/11, as both Keaton Greenwalt and Chase Whetsel homered twice against Cameron on 2/11. Andrew Pratt has three multi-homer games, hitting two on both 3/1 vs. St. Mary's and 3/8 vs. St. Edward's and smashing three homers against Newman on 3/29. Hill Alexander had the most recent multi-homer game on 4/5 against Oklahoma Christian, and the senior also homered twice against St. Edward's on 3/9. The top four home run hitters in the Heartland Conference and six of the top eight all play for Lubbock Christian.
 
 
STRENGTH IN STARTERS
A big key to the success of the LCU baseball team through the first half of the season has been its starting pitching. Ryan Johnson, Callan Johnson, Ricky Contreras, Nathan Dockery, Chandler Casey, Logan McCrummen and Shandon Herrera have all been tasked with beginning games on the mound this season, and overall, the group has posted an astonishing ERA of just 2.71. The six starters have struck out 216 batters while walking just 74 over 209.1 innings pitched and thrown 14 complete games while limiting opponents to just a .201 batting average.
 
CAREER NUMBERS
In his fourth season as a regular contributor on the mound, LCU pitcher Ricky Contreras is slowly moving up the Chap record books in a number of categories. He ranks fourth all-time in innings pitched with 292.2 and his career ERA of 2.78 ranks fourth best among pitchers who have spent at least 90.0 innings on the mound. Contreras has struck out 247 batters, which is the fifth most in LCU history, 67 Ks behind the all-time leader (310). Finally, he is tied for the seventh most wins with 26.
 
BUNT GAME
Although they are second-to-last in the Heartland Conference with just 11 sacrifice bunts this season, Lubbock Christian batters have found some success by bunting for hits this season with eight total. Chase Whetsel has had the biggest knack for getting on via the bunt, doing so four times this season. Will Clark has also done it twice on the year, and Hill Alexander has one bunt hit to his name in 2019.
 
CLEAR THE BASES
It took 31 games and more than 1,000 at-bats, but a Chaparral batter finally hit a home run while the bases were loaded in last Friday's 28-1 win over Newman. Senior Chase Whetsel did the damage, coming to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning after three straight singles by Ryan Rijo, Andres Negron and Will Clark. He took a 1-1 pitch and pull it over the right field wall, increasing the Chap lead to 18-0. The home run was Whetsel's sixth of the season, but only his second with any runners on base.
 
SOLO SHOTS
With 50 home runs as a team already this season, Lubbock Christian leads the Heartland Conference ranks No. 6 nationally. Exactly half (25) of those home runs, however, have been without runners on base, and 15 of them have come when the batter was leading off an inning. Last season, when LCU also led the conference with 63 home runs, only 22 of them (35%) were of the one-run variety. Of Pratt's league-leading 11 home runs, six have come without any runners on base ahead of him.
 
IN THE POLLS
Lubbock Christian was recognized in all three Division II baseball polls this week, as well as the regional poll. The Chaps' highest ranking came from Perfect Game, where sit in the No. 10 spot. LCU also made the top 25 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll, where they are No. 20 and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, where they were slotted at No. 22. The NCBWA also publishes a regional poll, where LCU was placed fourth.
 
HOMEGROWN PRODUCTS
Of the 33 players on the Lubbock Christian University baseball team this season, exactly one third (11) played high school baseball in Lubbock. Another three players on the 2019 of LCU's baseball team are from the surrounding area of Lubbock, including Idalou, New Deal and Shallowater.
 
2000 AND COUNTING
Since the inception of LCU's baseball program in 1971, the Chaparrals have been one of the best baseball teams at whatever level they were playing. Lubbock Christian has played 3,109 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,098 wins and 1,011 losses in that time.
 
COACHING CONSISTENCY
Lubbock Christian is bringing back the same three main coaches that have been with the team each of the last six seasons. Pitching coach Justin Sundlie, who played catcher at LCU in 2005 and 2006, is the newbie of the group, entering his seventh season with the Chaps, while head coach Nathan Blackwood and hitting coach Bob Fannin have been leading the program for the last 15 seasons. Together, the group has led LCU to a pair of first place finishes in the Heartland Conference, two NCAA South Central Regional appearances and a 240-116 (.667) won-loss record.
 
MAJOR-LEAGUE CONNECTION
With the 2019 Major League Baseball season under way, a pair of former Chaparral baseball players have been busy. Buck Britton (IF, 2007-08) and Wigberto Nevarez (C, 2013-14) are both now in the coaching ranks in professional baseball. Britton was promoted and named the Double-A manager for the Bowie Baysox of the Baltimore Orioles organization. Nevarez has just ended his playing career and will serve as a coach with the Single-A Rome Braves of the Atlanta Braves organization.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT NMHU

• Outfielder Auggie Francis leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a .439 batting average
• The Cowboys are coming off a series win that saw them take three of four games against Regis University in Las Vegas
• NMHU catchers lead the RMAC with 17 baserunners caught stealing, 13 of which have been by catcher Garrett Hammer
• Conversely the Cowboys are tied for dead last in the league with only 19 stolen bases (on 26 attempts) this season
• The pitching staff earned run average for New Mexico Highlands in 8.39, which ranks second highest in the RMAC